Name: Veal Cake
Ingredients: 1 breast of veal; lean ham, sliced; 6 hard boiled egg yolks, finely chopped; a handful of parsley, chopped; pepper, to taste; coarse sea salt, to taste; a little cayenne pepper, to taste; ½ cup water

Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Veal Cake

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

Prepare

Bone the breast of veal and place the flattest piece at the bottom of a large earthen jar.
Season with pepper, coarse sea salt, and cayenne pepper.
Layer chopped parsley, chopped egg yolks, and slices of ham alternately with slices of veal until the jar is full.
Add ½ cup of water and cover the veal with crushed bones.

Bake and press

Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven for 2 hours.
Remove the bones and place a weight on top to press it down.
Optionally, place it in a small mold for a beautiful presentation.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together34,122 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Veal + hamtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together3,264 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ham + eggtop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,526 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Veal + parsleytop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together4,766 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Veal + peppertop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,049 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Veal breast: Forms the main body of the dish, becoming tender and firm as it cooks.
Lean ham: Adds savoury flavour and a contrasting colour to the layers.
Hard boiled egg yolks: Add richness and a crumbly texture that binds the layers together.
Parsley: Adds a fresh, herbal aroma that lightens the rich meat.